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The basis of artistic creation is not what is, but what might be; not the real, but

the possible. Artists create according to the same principles as nature, but they apply them to individual entities, while nature thinks nothing of individual things. She is always building and destroying, because she wants to achieve perfection, not in the individual thing, but in the whole. - Rudolf Steiner

ANCIENT TRYPILLIA
SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS OF SPIRITUAL ART

Exhibition organized by the Fund for Research of Ancient of Civilizations, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute of Archeology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, as well as the Regional Museum, Borshchiv in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Institute of America.

Fund for Research of Ancient Civilizations

The color photographs taken especially for this catalogue are by Ruslan Ganushchak, and were edited by Alfred Mrozicki. The catalogue was designed by Iryna Forostyan, Ruslan Ganushchak, Kathleen Weigand, Irina Vakuleva, and Maria Pushkareva.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We at the Fund for Research of Ancient Civilizations (FRAC) would like to express our deepest gratitude to the Ukrainian Institute of America for hosting our exhibit, Ancient Trypillia: Seven Thousand Years of Spiritual Art. We would also like to thank the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, as well as the Regional Museum, Borshchiv in Ukraine, for providing FRAC with access to many of the artifacts presented in this exhibit. Many other pieces of artwork were provided to us from private collections, such as those of Anna Kulczycky, the Kytsevych family, the Shepko family, the Bokalo family, Olga Kolodij, and Myroslava Semerey. Other contributions for the contemporary aspect of our exhibit were made by artists Lyudmila Smelakova, Sergei and Vira Borysy, Zlatko Paunov, Ivan Bratko, Natalia Kormeluk, Vira Nakonechna, Yuri Kamishne, Valentuna Berdnuk, and Sofia Shatkivska. FRAC has greatly profited from the expertise of historians Natalia Burdo and Mykhailo Videiko. We similarly thank Mykhailo Sohotski, the director of the Regional Museum, Borshchiv, for his support and expertise. We also extend our gratitude to Ruslan Ganushchak, Alfred Mrozicki, and the Davidov family for their kind and generous technical support. FRAC thanks Zinovi Klym, Taras Salamaha (Ethno-Genesis Co.), the Kryl family, and Christine and Anthony Ventre for their help and support.

INTRODUCTION: ART AND SPIRITUALITY


It is difficult to imagine the absence of art in our contemporary lives. What we deem to be art, or at the very least aesthetic design, is intertwined into our everyday thoughts and activities. History has taught us that it is impossible to understand the art of previous centuries without understanding the system of beliefs and the social structure of the civilization that produced it. Deciphering these social structures increases our understanding of history and culture as a whole. However, without a corpus of text and research explaining the meaning of artifacts, it is left to archeologists and historians to reconstruct the culture of past civilizations, thus identifying and exposing the sometimes enigmatic role of a specific object within a system of beliefs. A civilization which has, in retrospect, been given the name Trypillian, (also known as Trypol'ye or Cucuteni-Trypillian by some) consisted of a people who lived and migrated within the territories of modernday Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria during the Copper Age, between 6,000 and 2,000 BCE. During the Neolithic period, hunter and gatherer societies such as the Trypillians, evolved into societies that practiced recreational farming and exerted tremendous collaborative and organized social work processes. Trypillian culture during this period is identified with several advancements in thought, including the following: developments in the Trypillian perception of time and space, the evolution of the Trypillian culture into a cosmogonist one, and the development of Trypillian beliefs in reincarnation and in understanding the soul as independent from the body. Trypillian culture during the Neolithic era also embraced a caste system society, which included a cult of ancestors and the ruling law of the goddess Rita, a law which provided harmony in social structure. Recent research regarding the Trypillian mytho-poetic concept of existence suggests that this model of spirituality may have been referenced in ancient epics from other cultures such as the Indian Vedas and the Ramayana, Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, and the Slavic epics, The Tale of Igor's Regiment and Velez's Book. Current researchers have established that this group of people lived mainly as farmers and hunters who built large, circular settlements, sometimes large enough in scale and population to be considered proto-cities. Common belief among archeologists maintains that these people would often burn their settlements, perhaps ceremoniously or perhaps in the wake of tribal disputes, and then either build new homes upon former settlement sites or migrate to new land. This belief was substantiated by nineteenth century archeological research, when the layered remains of such settlements were first unearthed. Since then, over 2,000 Trypillian sites have been found within an area of approximately 20,000 square miles. In contemporary art historical and archeological circles, Trypillian culture is most often associated with the anthropomorphic ceramic figurines discovered in ancient Trypillian settlement sites. These objects range from small, stylized human figurines, to various pieces of pottery, including decorated, painted, incised, monochromatic, or polychromatic containers. Countless figurines with exaggerated feminine reproductive features such as breasts, hips, and buttocks have been unearthed. Some scholars believe these fetish figures, similar to the famous Venus of Willendorf (Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna) represent a primordial mothergoddess figure, imbued with spirituality, fertility, and life-force. Much speculation surrounds the meaning of these representative figurines, but there is little doubt of their significant role in past rituals which cannot, as of yet, be reconstituted by contemporary archeologists. Many researchers believe these artifacts represent an original, Trypillian perception of the cosmos, as well as the conflation of agrarian concepts with those concerning the human life cycle. The historical facts of such rituals are not known to contemporary researchers and archeologists. However, analyzing this culture's mythology through the study of ancient artifacts provides us with a mode of interpreting the Trypillian culture, including the Trypillian perception of concepts such as existence and spirituality. It is likely that the Trypillian understanding of such concepts is reflected in cosmogonist models, which represent, through their very design, the basis of the Trypillian lifestyle. These models are manifest in the images on ceramic artifacts and are also evident in the circular construction of Trypillian settlements and dwellings. Among typical Trypillian cosmogonist symbols, the most commonly seen include the spiral triskele, dualistic or symmetrical compositions, and triptych or quadruple compositions.

It is difficult to approximate from the shards of pottery and artifacts that have been salvaged the exact identity and origin of the Trypillian people. Their aesthetic influence has carried on throughout millennia and has inspired contemporary artists to recapture significant primordial forms. The influence of these aesthetic concepts is reflected in Eastern European folk art. Examples of such art include decorative eggs known as pysanky, created in a variety of media and embellished with Trypillian motifs, as well as in traditional, regionally stylized embroidery still worn by people in present day Eastern Europe. Sculptures such as Ukrainian artist Aleksandr Archipenko's Woman Combing her Hair from 1915 (Museum of Modern Art, New York) are highly regarded pieces of contemporary art and, aside from their Modernist or Cubist affiliation, are also stylistically rooted in ancient traditions, employing an aestheticism related to that found in Trypillian artifacts. It is difficult to approximate from the shards of pottery and artifacts that have been salvaged the exact identity and origin of the Trypillian people. Their aesthetic influence has carried on throughout millennia and has inspired contemporary artists to recapture significant primordial forms. The influence of these aesthetic concepts is reflected in Eastern European folk art. Examples of such art include decorative eggs known as pysanky, created in a variety of media and embellished with Trypillian motifs, as well as in traditional, regionally stylized embroidery still worn by people in present day Eastern Europe. Sculptures such as Ukrainian artist Aleksandr Archipenko's Woman Combing her Hair from 1915 (Museum of Modern Art, New York) are highly regarded pieces of contemporary art and, aside from their Modernist affiliation, are also stylistically rooted in ancient traditions, employing an aestheticism related to that found in Trypillian artifacts. While many ancient civilizations are virtually unknown to our contemporary society, an interest in Trypillian art is flourishing today. Within just the past five years, several exhibits such as those in Toronto and New York City have attempted to familiarize the North-American public with the wonders of the Trypillian past. This movement thus aims to incite both public and professional interest in and investigation of the Trypillian civilization. One of many themes that can be learned from this culture and its artifacts is that the Trypillian society attempted to live in harmony with the universe through creativity, and through rituals which celebrated the innate human connection to nature. Hopefully, experts in the fields of archeology and art history will soon be able to increase public understanding of Trypillian lifestyles and practices. Until then, we have presented our exhibit in an attempt to maintain the general public's awareness of Trypillian beliefs and their forerunning aesthetic developments. For just as the ancient artifacts of Mesopotamia and Egypt are seen as the precedents of ancient civilization and art, the study of the Trypillian civilization may reveal new evidence about the birth of organized society, culture, and aestheticism.

FRAC, New York City 2010

LETTER FROM NATALIA BURDO


Historian, the Ukrainian Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Edited and supplemented by Kathleen Weigand, Art Historian THE TRYPILLIANS: A FARMING CIVILIZATION OF OLD EUROPE Numerous archeological findings (shards and whole vessels; parts of various tools made of stone, bone, and copper; ritual objects; clay figurines; amulets made of shell, clay, bone, and copper) were discovered by archeologists among the ruins of Trypillian settlement sites. These findings are striking but silent witnesses to a distant and forgotten epoch. This epoch is known as the youth of mankind. It was during this period that the oldest farming tribes laid the foundation of civilization on the European continent, and history began with the emergence of the first states in the ancient Near East. It was during this period that the oldest farming tribes laid the foundation of civilization on the European continent, and history began with the emergence of the first states in the ancient Near East. During the years when the Trypillian culture flourished, the foundations of the ancient farming society's ideology and spirituality were also laid. Later, this became the ground upon which, through numerous transformations of belief, world religions would be formed. People who left behind Trypillian monuments worshiped the Great Goddess, the Mother Goddess, or the Great Mother of all things. Images of the Madonna and Orans also existed; precursors to common images in Christianity. The Trypillians developed a sign system, a sacred language expressed on ceramic objects. The accomplished ornamentation on Trypillian ceramics continuously represented symbols of infinity, such as spirals and ancient svarga (sun wheel) motifs. Thus, the materials of the Trypillian culture show the patterns of spiritual beliefs concerning nature and its powers, as well as revealing the sacred world of this ancient civilization.

IN SEARCH OF THE SACRED CODE OF TRYPILLIANS

An introduction to the sacred tradition of prehistoric civilizations is a venture into the depths of eternity. The humanities, a discipline to which the category of history is assigned, are sometimes considered easier to grasp than scientific disciplines. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Because humankind is endowed with the mind, we represent the culmination of nature's creation and its most complicated invention. Therefore, the notion that the study of humanity, much less human society, is simpler than scientific study is an erroneous idea. An academic immersion into the depths of history is infinitely complex, and can be likened to diving into the unknown depths of the ocean. Similarly, cultural studies require us to turn to a wide spectrum of humanitarian disciplines, including history, comparative mythology, theology, sociology, psychology, ethnology, and philosophy. However, the grounds for the study of a civilization that disappeared over 3,000 years before Christ was born, can only be based on archaeological evidence, as there are no other direct sources to connect researchers to the life, society, and culture of an ancient people. There are many obstacles in understanding the spiritual culture of ancient peoples, especially those that existed during the prehistoric era, when there was no written tradition. The study of the sacred world of a civilization that left nothing but the ruins of charred dwellings and objects made of largely unbreakable material, such as ceramic and stone, requires an incredible amount of effort. Therefore, we must overcome uncertainty and obstacles in order to reach an understanding of the Trypillians' system of spiritual beliefs, worship, rites, and rituals. The first of these obstacles is that all archaeological findings are purely material objects, and specialists regard them exactly as this, via the critical mode of material culture. Although such artifacts cannot tell us directly about the spiritual orientation of the people who made them, and although among these objects there are some that relate to ancient cults and rituals, we nevertheless know little about the beliefs or religious culture of these people. Therefore, in order to properly understand the meaning and function of such artifacts, special analytic procedures are required to allow us to access the information encoded in these ancient objects. 5

It is also important to understand that the typicality of such artifacts is, in reality, not so absolute. Each artifact was made by a creator, who was a participant in his or her own spiritual culture. Hence, these seemingly ordinary objects contain coded information related to the ideology and spiritual sphere of ancient Trypillian lives. One must only recognize the encoded elements, assemble them in a way that communicates meaning, and attempt to understand the content. This method provides a means through which to demystify the sacred code of the Trypillian culture, which can bring us closer to an understanding of the religious beliefs embodied in the artifacts that have been unearthed. It is worth remembering that the assemblage of unusually shaped ritual and votive pottery, ceramic male and female figurines, anthropomorphic figures, terracotta models of houses and furniture, and vessels decorated with beautifully painted and incised images, represent an insignificant fraction of Trypillian material culture. Their material world, i.e. the complete accumulation of things they created, was fairly more diverse. All objects made from organic material, such as wood, fabric, wicker, wool, and leather have disintegrated and disappeared over time. If we look at the traditional Ukrainian customs in which cultural traditions reflect the traditions of their very distant farming ancestors, we see what a great many elements of ethnic material culture have been lost over time. Let us imagine that the archaeological findings we term artifacts represent, figuratively, a small number of surviving illustrations from a book that lost most of its pages long ago. These artifacts, or illustrations, are like so many puzzle pieces, which can be used to recreate a beautiful picture of the mysterious past. Of course, this excites our curiosity and drives us to investigate how the total picture, or the Trypillian culture, appeared during the time of its existence. Scholars sometimes treat the artifacts of Trypillian settlement sites as entire keys to understanding the Trypillian culture, rather than the small clues that they actually are. To perform research of Trypillian culture and religion more scrupulously, we must attempt to research the Trypillian people using the afore-mentioned humanitarian disciplines. Using this method, we can understand information about the culture of the Trypillians, the messages that have come to us through a symbolic, pictorial language, and decode the beliefs and legends symbolized in Trypillian artifacts. Our millennia-old forbearers conveyed their sacred knowledge in various ways, mainly verbally or through a written code, with the use of symbols. Since the oral tradition of passing down and preserving sacred information emerged before written communication, many cultures practiced a tradition of reciting sacred texts, and passing them from person to person, never recording these stories or epics in writing. Even the traditions of the Greek and Roman civilizations were first passed down orally through generations. Obviously, the oral tradition of the Trypillians will forever remain a mystery to us. However, a symbolic language, was maintained by the Trypillian population. This is shown through a number of various ritual incantations found in the form of encoded artifacts during excavations. -Such forms of preserved information are keys to translating the Trypillian perception of the world into contemporary concepts and language. It is obvious that artifacts are of great help to us in providing visual manifestations of the Trypillians' sacred code, but it remains a challenge to understand or decipher their content. Due to these circumstances, scholars consider the symbolic representations portrayed on Trypillian artifacts as non-verbal texts written, not in letters, but in a certain type of hieroglyphics, or pictogramsmetaphors expressed in signs and images, which survive as clay objects or as ornamental design on the surface of such objects. To read a particular clay artifact, we must understand the Trypillian sense of logic and unlock its secret code.

THE FIRST STUDIES OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD OF ANCIENT FARMERS Vikenty Khvoika, an archeologist working in Ukraine, first certified that the archeological findings discovered near the village of Trypillia (thus giving the unknown civilization its name) came from a culture that predates, and which is separate from, that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. He was also the first to study the sacred beliefs of these ancient farmers. Khvoika came to the conclusion that the areas he excavated revealed to us not to the material life [of the Trypillians], but the spiritual one. Unearthing the remains of ritual houses and burial structures, Khvoika also observed the unusual, painted ornamentation on the surface of clay vessels. His observations were first published in 1901, in an article he prepared together with researcher Ivan Linnichenko. Khvoika and Linnichenko discussed seventeen specific characters they had observed during excavations, which resembled Chinese hieroglyphs. Later on, these characters were the subject of research by philologist Karl Bulsonovsky. In the early twentieth century, Bulsonovsky devoted two mythological etudes to his research of these Trypillian codes, using the Latin expression Non multa, sed multum (Not many but much) as an epigraph. This epigraph demonstrated Bulsonovsky's confidence that the Trypillian characters were few in number, yet wealthy in meaning. Bulsonovsky concluded that other ancient cultures known to historians at the time of his research, such as Scythians, Slavs, and Livonians, were comparable to the Trypillian culture. Based on certain mythological images, such as the recurring snake, he thus regarded the Trypillian culture as a Proto-Slavic civilization. It is interesting to note that the researcher focused his attention on later ethnic groups inheritance of Trypillian modes of spirituality, rather than their inheritance of material objects. In 1908, Bulsonovsky published research in which he discussed the paleography and symbolism of the Trypillian culture using the same ancient characters that were discovered by Khvoika. The scholar stressed the importance of these findings in connection to rituals and their relationship with the mythology of the ancient world. Based on twenty-one characters chosen from painted Trypillian earthenware, Bulsonovsky offered an explanation for the Trypillian inception of writing. He stated that through the invention of hieroglyphs, which primitive humans used as symbols for various notions, the Trypillians recorded crucial spiritual ideas and incantations. Most of the hieroglyphs, according to the author, are unexplained due to our lack of knowledge of the beliefs and rituals of these people. Bulsonovsky suggested an important hypothesis: that the Trypillian symbols are the prototypes of letters, and the symbols that preserved their principal ritual and religious meaning. He assumed that these symbols were forgotten by the Slavs and the Greeks but were preserved in China in the form of ornamental script. Bulsonovsky assumed that with the help of Chinese ritual scripts he had found a key to the explanation of many representations of the animal world in Trypillian earthenware. One hundred years have passed since Bulsonovsky wrote these lines. Now, scholars maintain a different perspective on the mysterious sign-symbols painted on Trypillian clay artifacts. Their proposed relation to Chinese pictograms seems improbable. Firstly, it was discovered that the characters, which reminded Khvoika, Linnichenko, and Bulsonovsky of Chinese hieroglyphs, had different locations in the ornamental compositions upon actual vessels and were taken out of context. Trypillian characters, which eventually came to be viewed as highly stylized zoomorphic symbols, were nevertheless largely reminiscent of Chinese hieroglyphs. Bulsonovsky's fundamental thesis, that Trypillian sign-symbols represent elements of a symbolic sacred language, is accepted as credible, and contemporary scholars continue to pursue it. At the end of the twentieth century, Taras Tkachuk systematized a large number of symbolic images and, in the opinion of some scholars, proved the existence of a sacred sign system, depicted in Trypillian ornamentation many millennia earlier.

AFTERWORD
By Kathleen Weigand, Art Historian

Subsequent research by historians, philosophers, philologists, and other professionals, such as Mircea Eliade and Marija Gimbutas, has provided us with further insight into the meaning of Cucuteni-Trypillian hierophanies. Thus, we are able to witness the progression of scholarship in de-coding ancient symbols, which communicate concepts of sacrality and structured belief systems. While opinions differ as to the meaning of the CucuteniTrypillian sign-symbols, little doubt remains that they are imbued with mysterious beliefs concerning religion, not as an establishment but as a culture, and the coalescence of Cucuteni-Trypillian everyday life with ritual and creative practices. Many scholarly explanations exist as to the function and meaning of Cucuteni-Trypillian artifacts. Were the miniature human figurines used as simple representations and examples of the ideal human form within the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture? Were the female figurines actually fetish figures or fertility symbols, used to bless women with the fecundity considered so important to the survival of a civilization? Were the zoomorphic or anthropomorphic images on clay vessels, amphorae, binocular votive pottery, and other earthenware simple manifestations of animism or totemism? Were miniature clay structures such as houses, seats, and furniture used as models for large-scale constructions? Or were they, as well as the human figurines, considered blessed charms, endowed with benevolence, buried in the foundation of homes to bring household inhabitants good fortune and to ward off evil forces? Were they buried underneath sanctuaries or holy ground for the same purpose? All of the above theories are both credible and possible. Yet another theory is proposed in this exhibit, in addition to these pragmatic explanations. FRACs thesis attempts to assert that the Cucuteni-Trypillian people of the Copper Age were a highly developed civilization, which established its own, specific societal conception of group values, mores, taboos, and religion, the latter of which can be more accurately defined as spirituality. This concept of spirituality in Cucteni-Trypillian life was comprised of a system of beliefs involving the inviolable and inseparable connection between sacred rituals and everyday activities; a belief in the sacrosanctity of nature and of repetitious agrarian traditions; and in the phenomenal practice of using cosmogonist models, in the form of painted symbols and clay objects, to represent societal ideas concerning the cosmos, human existence, the human life-cycle, and the worship of deities such as the omnipresent Great Mother. A pantheon of such deities, spirits, gods, or goddesses worshipped by the Cucuteni-Trypillian people has not yet been recognized, as those of the Egyptian or Indus Valley civilizations have. However, archeological and art historical evidence points to the Cucuteni-Trypillian belief that a spiritual presence existed within everyday life. These beliefs may have been passed on to other Proto-Slavic civilizations, as well as to Indo-European cultures. The sophisticated level of Neolithic Cucuteni-Trypillian creativity is as valuable to researchers as the creative practices of the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, Thracians, Scythians, and the Neolithic Greek civilization. The motivation for this advanced Cucuteni-Trypillian creativity can be found in this civilizations concept of living spirituality and in the objects, now artifacts, which embodied these beliefs.

Ancient Trypillia

Trypillian Mother c. 3,600 BCE Ceramic H: 95 mm Lviv Historical Museum Found in Sushkivka, Ukraine

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Madonna c. 4,000 BCE Ceramic H: 95 mm Found in Krynychynki, Ukraine

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Trypillian Madonna c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 55 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Female Figurines c. 5,400 - 5,300 BCE Ceramic H: 50 - 55 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Bernashivka, Ukraine Excavated by Zbenovych

Group of Miniature Female Figurines c. 5,400 - 5,300 BCE Ceramic H: 55 to 90mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Bernashivka, Ukraine Excavated by V. Zbenovych 14

Male and Female Figurines (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 105, 107, 106 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Female Figurine c. 3,200 BCE Ceramic H: 22 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Troyaniv, Ukraine Excavated by T. Bielanovska and M. Shmahliy

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Miniature Female Figurine c. 3,900 BCE Ceramic H: 22 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Kolomyschina, Ukraine

Bust of Chief c. 4,800 - 4,700 BCE Stone H: 45 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Luka Vrublivetska, Ukraine Excavated by S. Bibikov 17

Trypillian Orans (also presented as hologram) c. 4,500 BCE Painted, incised ceramic H: 10 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Sokiltsi-Polizhok, Ukraine Excavated by V. Danylenko

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Group of Female Figurines c. 5,400 - 5,300 BCE Ceramic H: 50 - 55 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Bernashivka, Ukraine Excavated by Zbenovych

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Seated Female Figurines (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 40 to 60 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Amulet (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Bone H: 100 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Venus of Troyaniv c. 3,200 BCE Ceramic H: 185 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Troyaniv, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy

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Binocular Votive Vessel c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 170 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Vessel c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 200 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Vessel c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 200 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Tureen Cover c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 50 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Bowl c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Ceramic H: 70 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky 25

Fragment of Pottery c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 160 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Fragment, Miniature Votive Table c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 100 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Ornamental Vessel c. 4,000 BCE Painted ceramic H: 120 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Zubrchanske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Biconical Vessel with Painted Vegetable Symbols c. 3,500 BCE Painted ceramic H: 125 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Three-dimensional, Miniature Symbols: Cones, Spheres, and Loaves of Bread c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 5 to 25 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

Miniature Sleigh (also presented as hologram) c. mid 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 71 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Necklace c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Deer and Dog Teeth H: 74 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Ax Head c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Copper H: 105 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Bracelet and Awl c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Copper H: 5 mm (Bead) H: 45 mm (Awl) Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Necklace c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Sea shells H: 15 mm (shell) Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Whorls from Drop Spindle c. 3,300 - 3,100 BCE Ceramic H: 30 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Vessel Lid Depicting a Snake's Head c. Late 5,400 - 5,300 BCE Incised ceramic H: 100 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Bernashivka, Ukraine Excavated by V. Zbenovych

Upper Portion of Vessel c. 4,000 BCE Painted ceramic H: 155 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko 31

Shards, Upper Portion of Ornamental Vessel c. 4,400 - 4,300 BCE Painted ceramic H: 80 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Millstone c. 3,500 BCE Buhrstone H: 110 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Head of Collinear Hoe c. 4,500 BCE Deer antler H: 150 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Dagger c. 4,500 BCE Bone H: 175 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Chip Ceramic Bowl c. 3,400 3,200 BCE Ceramic, limestone crust H: 150 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Fragment of Earthenware with Relief Image c. 3,800 BCE Incised ceramic H: 55 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Nemyriv, Ukraine Excavated by M. I. Artamonov

Flint Blade c. 3,900 - 3,500 BCE H: 210 mm Flint Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Strilkivtsi, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky Biconical Vessel c. 3,500 BCE Painted ceramic H: 85mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Bust of Female (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 88 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Miniature Bust of Female Figurine c. 4,000 3,900 BCE Ceramic H: 106 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Volodymyrivka, Ukraine Excavated by M. Makarevych

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Female Figurine c. 3,500 - 3,400 BCE Ceramic H: 140 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Bust of Woman (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 120mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

Female Head (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 45 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Pottery Fragment with Stylized Snake c. 4,400 - 4,300 BCE Painted ceramic H: 150 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Grinchuk, Ukraine Excavated by S. Pachkova and E. Yakovenko

Group of Three Biconical Vessels c. 3,500 BCE Painted ceramic H: 65 mm, 90mm, 50mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

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Upper Portion of Ornamental Vessel c. 4,400 BCE Painted ceramic H: 50 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Glybochok, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

Two Vases and an Amphora c 3,900 - 3,600 BCE Painted ceramic H: 70 100 mm Regional Museum, Borshchiv Found in Bilche-Zolote, Verteba cave, Ukraine Excavated by M. Sokhatsky

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Head (also presented as hologram) c. 3,500 BCE Ceramic H: 42 mm Intitute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Maydanetske, Ukraine Excavated by M. Shmahliy and M. Videiko

Pottery Shard with Painted Anthropomorphic Images c. 4,000 BCE Painted ceramic H: 12 mm Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv Found in Nebelivka, Ukraine Excavated by N. Burdo, J. Chapman, M. Videiko

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Many objects have been presented as holograms in this exhibit

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Contemporary Art

View of Perepyatiha Mound (Kurhan) Taras Shevchenko Published at 1846, litograph Drawing, pencil on paper Library, Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv

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Upright Perepyatiha Mound (Kurhan) Taras Shevchenko Published at 1846, litograph Drawing, pencil on paper (with writing by Karl Bolsunovsky) Library, Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv

Remains of Settlement near Veremya Village Vikenty Kvhoika 1904 Sketch from journal, pencil on paper Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv

Remains of Settlement near Trypillia with Self-Portrait Vikenty Kvhoika 1901 Sketch from journal, pencil on paper Institute of Archeology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv 46

Woman Aleksandr Archipenko 1926 Oil on wood 20 x 14.5 Ukrainian Institute of America Collection, New York City

Woman Aleksandr Archipenko

1915 Bronze H: 13
Ukrainian Institute of America Collection, New York City

Woman Combing her Hair Aleksandr Archipenko

1915 Bronze H: 15
Ukrainian Institute of America Collection, New York City 47

Berehynia Lydmyla Smolyakova 2009 Ceramic H: 11 National Museum, Kyiv

Deva of the Field Zlatko Paunov 2010 Wood with patina H: 13 Private Collection, New York City

Moonlight Queen Ivan Bratko 2005 Marble H: 30 Private Collection, Livingston 48

Maternity Zlatko Paunov 2007 Mixed Media H: 17 Private Collection, New York City

Carved Mammoth Bone Zlatko Paunov 2010 Acrylic and Hydrostone H: 11 Private Collection, New York City

Carved Mammoth Bone 19,000 BCE Bone H: 11 National Museum of History of Ukraine, Kyiv Found in Mezyn, Ukraine 49

Couple Myron Bakalo 2003 Ceramic H: 8 Private Collection, Union

Snake Sofia Shatkivska 2006 Marble Diameter: 9.5 Private Collection, Washington (Vermont)

Three Fields Sofia Shatkivska 2006 Marble tile 12 x 12each Private Collection, Washington (Vermont) 50

Veroshchina Vikno (The Clairvoyant's Window) Yury Kamyshny 2003 Oil on cardboard 32 x 49 Private Collection, Zjutomyr

Archaic Dolls Valentuna Berdnuk 2010 Handmade linen H: 13 18 Private Collection, Kyiv

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Mother Sofia Shatkivska 2006 Oil on wood 25 cm x 45 cm Private Collection, Vermont

Berehynia Trypilska Hatalia Kovalenko 2005 Oil on glass 32 cm x 22 cm Private Collection, Chicago

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Vase Natalia Kormeluk 2003 Ceramic H: 17 Private Collection, Washington D.C.

Babusia Natalia Kormeluk 2003 Ceramic wall tile 22 cm x 14 cm Private Collection, Washington D.C.

Zernovyky Natalia Kormeluk 2010 Ceramic H: 22 Private Collection, Washington D.C.

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In the Sun Ivan Bratko 2009 Ceramic H: 12 Private Collection

Ancestors Natalia Kormeluk 2003 Ceramic wall tile 35 cm x 23 cm Private Collection, Washington D.C.

Plate with Embroidery Myron Bakalo 2003 Ceramic Diameter: 16 Private Collection, Union 54

Berehynia-Trypolyana Anna Kulczycky 1995 Embroidery 16 x 16 Private Collection, Chicago

Candelabrum Artist unknown 2000 Carved wood H: 14 Region Museum, Kolomya 55

The Tree of Life Shepko Family 1925 White homespun linen 7.5 x 7.5 Private Collection, New York City

Woven Rushnyk Shepko Family 1923 White cotton with red embroidery 65 x 18 Private Collection, New York City

Embroidery Shepko Family 1944 Embroidered burlap (made in German work-camp) 18 x 14 Private Collection, New York City 56

Pysanka with Berehynia Olga Kolody 2000 H: 15 cm Paint on Eggshells Private Collection, Philadelphia

(Following page) Vinok-Chilce (Headdress) Vera Nakonechna 2005 Embroidery H: 4 Private Collection, New York City

(Following page) Handmade Traditional Dress Kytsevych Family 1820s Linen Private Collection, Volyn

(Opposite) Pysanky Serhy and Vera Borus 2000 H: 6 cm Eggshells Nation Museum, Kyiv

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Photograph by Charley Pardon

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